Badgers Struggle at Penn State
November 22, 2003 | Volleyball
It was a familiar story for the Wisconsin volleyball team. The Badgers lost to Big Ten Conference-leader and 15th-ranked Penn State, 30-24, 30-23, 30-21. Wisconsin remains tied for fourth in the conference at 11-7 and is 19-10 overall.
'I thought (Lisa Zukowski) had a great night, but unfortunately no one else was there, offensively, to back her up.'
The Badgers struggled on offense, hitting just .099 percent, which is the second-lowest for the UW this season. Wisconsin had 33 hitting errors, most unforced, with 47 kills. Lisa Zukowski was the only UW player in double-figure kills, recording a season-high 19. Jill Odenthal and Aubrey Meierotto both added eight kills for the UW.
The Nittany Lions also had 47 kills but had just nine hitting errors to hit .299 percent. Cara Smith and Ashley Pederson put down 12 and 10 kills, respectively.
'They ran a very good offense,' Waite commented, 'We did not serve very strongly, which allowed them to run all three options. They were taking advantage of our smaller block and at the end of the night they are still going to be taller than we are.'
Penn State outblocked Wisconsin 11 to five but the Badgers played outstanding defense, recording 60 digs compared to 47 for the Nittany Lions. Jill Maier tied her career high with 22 digs while Zukowski added 13 digs for a double double. Zukowski also led Wisconsin with two service aces.
'I think a lot of our passes were off then net, so we didn 't have a lot of options, but overall, our passing was not that bad,' Waite said.
The Badgers hit just .196 percent in the first game with 10 attack errors, including six unforced. The Nittany Lions broke a 9-9 tie by outscoring the Badgers, 8-2, to take a 17-11 lead. Wisconsin cut the lead to three (23-20) off one of Zukowski's seven kills for the game but Penn State got it's lead back up to six at 27-21.
The Nittany Lions led the entire second game with the Badgers never able to pull even. Zukowski had eight kills, including one at 13-12, to pull Wisconsin within one point. But hitting errors again hurt the Badgers despite a change in the lineup. Waite kept Marian Weidner in the front row for Aubrey Meierotto and subbed in Maria Carlini for Jill Odenthal. Wisconsin hit just .091 for the period, with 11attack errors.
The Badgers kept their lineup change in Game 3 and it proved to be beneficial early on. Wisconsin led 9-7 off a block from Weidner and Amy Bladow, but four straight UW hitting errors put the Nittany Lions up 12-9. The Badgers would remain close allowing the Lions to lead by just one (16-15) but errors again hurt the UW as State went up 19-15 and never looked back.
'Right now, we need to regroup and get two wins at home against Indiana and Purdue,' Waite said. 'It will be good to play in the Field House and finish strong in the Big Ten. We will need that to give us some momentum going into the NCAA tournament.
Wisconsin returns home for its final two matches of the Big Ten season. The Badgers host Indiana and Purdue next Friday and Saturday in the UW Field House.
The 64-team bracket for the 2003 NCAA Volleyball Championships will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. on ESPNews. The Badgers are looking for their eighth-consecutive appearance in the post-season tournament and their 12th appearance overall.
